Charles d



C. D. .IENNEY. SPRING CONTROLLING AND CUSHIONING MEANS FOR MOTOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 19I6-V 1,320,060, Patented Oct. 58,1919.

6] tiowel/ UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES I). JENNEY, OF INDIANAIOLIS, INDIANA.

SPRING CONTROLLING AND CUSHIONING MEANS FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

Application filed .Tune'23, 1516. Serial No. 105,503.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES D. J ENNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, Marion county, and State of Indiana, have invented and discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Controlling and Cushioning Means for Motor-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to spring controlling and cushioning means for motor vehicles, and its object is to provide a device adapted to effectively check the rebound of the body of the car incident to road shocks; to provide an efiective and simple form of piston for the dash potemployed as the controlling means and which will insure such a flow of the oil past the same as to eliminate a violent checking action in the. rebound movement, to provide for neutralizing the operation of the device except in response to vibrations of considerable force, thereby leaving the action of the ordinary springs to take care of slight shocks and jars, to prevent lost motion between the parts connecting the device and the body and axle structures to prevent loss of oil past the piston rod of the dash pot, to pro videmeans to-insure that only the proper quantity of oil shall be supplied to the dash pot and to generally improve the construction of a device of this class.

With these objects in view my invention is embodied in preferable form in the-construction and arrangement hereinafter described and illustrated in' the accompanying attached, or the body itself, or an extension therefrom, and 2 indicates abracket mounted in said body structure and 3 denotes a member or bracket constituting part of the axle structure, which structure maybe considered as consisting of either theaxle itself, an extension therefrom or the central part of the lower half of the set of leaf Springs.

tween the body structure or frame and the axle structure.

A dash-pot containing oil is interposed between such body' structure and the axle and constitutes the controlling means. The piston rod 4, of this dash pot carries a head 5 having a loop 6 which is fixed thereto and which engages a yoke 7 fixed to the body structure bracket 2. The loop -is held against the yoke and'frictional wear due to lost motion and relative movements of the connected parts, is prevented by means of a block 8 yieldingly held against the loop by means of a spring 9, mounted in a cylindrical. casing 10, fixed to the part 2. Thecylinder 11 of the dash pot is similarly connected to the axle structure by means of a loop 12 fixed to said cylinder and engaging a yoke 13 clamped on the extension 3, se-

and take upwear between the loop and yoke.

The piston rod carries at its inner end a metallic piston 16 which is preferably cupshaped and has an elongated annular flange or wall 17 which is spaced from the wall of the cylinder a sufficient distance to permit the oil contained in the cylinder to move past the piston when the samev moves toward the upper end of the cylinder in the rebound movement. The width of the clearance between the walls determines the rate of flow of the oil past the cylinder and consequently the degree of checking resistance offered by the oil and this clearance may be determined to meet conditions imposed by the weight of the car, as desired.

The elongated wall of the piston provides I a long friction surface for the passage of the oil which is of advantage in retarding the body structure effectively while at the same time the oil is permitted to move past the relatively sliding surfaces with a gradual andeasy movement, avoiding a sudden and violent checking action. v I

The piston head is provided with a series of openings 18 of predetermined area through which the oil is adapted to pass freely in the downward cushioning movement of the piston and these openings are controlled by a fiat annular disk valve 19,

operable between the piston head and a shoulder on a nut 20 forming part of the piston and fixed on the piston rod and which valve is adapted to close the openings in the upward, rebound checking movement of the piston. In order to prevent the closing action of the valve when the car is traveling over smooth surfaces and thus leave the shock absorbing action substantially to the main springs during such travel, the .valve is adapted to be held away from its seat by springs 21, preferably flat, bent springs, which are mounted in radial grooves in the upper surface of the piston head and bear against the under surface of the valve and serve to hold the latter open against upward movements of slight force but which yield under a rebound of considerable force and close the openings. However, these springs may be dispensed with, if desired, and the neutralizing effect on the valve obtained by increasing the clearance between the walls of the piston and cylinder;

In order to obtain a graduating action in the rebound movement which increases the resistance to the rebound toward the latter part of said movement, the cylinder is tapered on its inner surface with the smallest part at the upper end thereof, whereby the clearance between the piston and the cylinder decreases toward the upper part of the dash pot.

In the lower part of the dash pot cylinder is a bumper spring 22 adapted to prevent contact of the piston with the lower end of the dash pot in the cushionin movement.

In the side wall of the cylinder is an oil filling opening 22', adapted to be closed by a suitable screw plug and which opening is located a sufficient distance below the upper end of the cylinder to insure that only the proper amount of oil can be supplied to the cylinder. An air space is thus left above the body of oil. v

The piston rod is movable through a double stufling box consisting of a'threaded cap 23 having a cylindrical portion 24, the lower part of which projects into the cylinder beyond the cap and in which lower part is mounted .a packing 25 of suitable material, a slmilar packing 26 being mounted in the upper part of the stufling box and held in place by a screw plug 27. Between the two packlngs is mounted a metallic spacing ring and oil catch member 28 which is spaced from the inner surface of the wall of the stuffing box shell by an annular chamber 29 and which has another annular'space 30 immediately surrounding the piston rod. These chambers communicate with a passageway 31 formed in a bracket 32 and which passageway is in communication with a tube 33 which leads downwardly to the lower end of the dash pot cylinder and communicates therewlth below the piston through a valve plug 34:. A ball valve 35 is mounted in the opening leading through the cylinder and is adapted to close the entrance to the tube and such valve is retained against being drawn into the cylinder by means of a screen 36.

In the operation of the device, when the car is traveling over smooth roads the usual slight shocks and -jars incident thereto will be mainly taken up by the ordinary leaf springs of the car. In such smooth traveling, the depression of the body will depress the piston in the dash pot and the oil will pass freely through the openings 18 and upon the return movement of the body and piston, the flat springs 21 will serve to hold the valve'l9 open thus preventing any checking movement in the dash pot. \Vhen a siderable shock or jar is imparted to the axle structure, so as to cause a quick and extensive relative approaching movement of the body structure and axle structure, the piston will be depressed against the oil, the slight cushioning effect from the latter however, bein almost inappreciable and the oil escaping through the openings 18. T he primary object and effect of the device, are to control the rebound action of the body caused by the ordinary leaf springs of the car. In such rebound action under the influence of the return movement of the car spring following a considerable shock or ar, the piston will be carried upwardly and the valve 19 Will close the openings 18, thus af fording a resistance to the traverse of the piston through the medium of the oil in the cylinder and the compression of the air above the body of oil. In such movement of the piston the oil will escape past the elongated wall of the piston and the resistance will be gradually increased as the latter moves upwardly in the cylinder owing to the tapered form of said cylinder.

The control of the oil flow in the rebound checking movement by means of the spaced wall of the piston enables a cooperation between such piston Wall and the tapered wall of the cylinder to be obtained in securing the graduated resistance in the checking action.

Oil that may be carried up by the piston rod by its movement through the stufling boX will escape into the chambers 29 and 30 and thence through the passagew y 31 into the tube 33 and thence into the lower end of the cylinder ofthe dash pot, the suction below the piston being sufiicient to draw the oil down into the cylinder and to lift the ball valve 35 from its seat and thus open the tube.

Having thus described my invention What I claim is:

1. A spring controlling device for motor cars comprising a dash pot having an oil containing cylinder and a piston therein, said piston having an opening through its head to permit the passage of the oil, a valve controlling the opening through the head and resistance means interposed between said valve and piston operable to normally hold the valve from its seat and prevent the closing of the opening except under a consider able pressure against the valve.

2. A spring controlling device for motor cars having an oil containing cylinder and a piston movable therein, aid piston having an opening through its head to permit the passage of oil, a fiat disk valve controlling said opening and mounted on the upper face of said head and spring means mounted on the upper face of said head and bearing against the under side of said valve to normally hold said valve and head'in spaced relation and afford a resistance against the seating of said valve. 3. A spring controlling device for motor cars comprising a dash pot having an oil containing cylinder formed with straight vertical walls and a piston movable therein, said piston having an elongated wall spaced from the Wall of the cylinder to provide a clearance through which the oil is permitted to pass in the rebound checking movement of the piston, the head of said piston having an opening therethrough, a flat disk valve mounted on said head and adapted to control said opening and spring means on said head bearing against the under side of said valve to afford a predetermined resistance against the closing of the valve.

4-. A spring controlling device for motor cars comprising anoil containing dash pot formed with straight vertical Walls having a piston which is freely movable in one-direction upon the relative approaching move ment of the body and axle structures and having mean to check the flow of oil by the piston in the movement thereof in the opposite direction to check the rebound move- 1,32o,oco

ment, said dash pot having graduated means" to increase the checking action of the piston as it approaches the end of the rebound movement. r

5. A spring controlling device for motor cars comprising a dash pot having an oil containing cylinder formed with straight vertical Walls and a, piston movable therein,- said piston having means to permit the free movement of the oil through the same in the movement in one direction thereof'and means to check and resist the movement of the oil by the piston in the opposite movement thereof, said cylinder being tapered on its inner surface to graduatingly increase the resistance of the. piston in saidlatter movement.

6. A spring controlling device for motor cars comprising a dash pot having an oil containing cylinder formed with straight vertical walls and a piston movable therein, said piston having means to permit the free passage of the oil through the same in the relative approaching movement of body structure and axle structure and having an elongated side wall spaced from the wall of the cylinder, to provide for the passage of oil past the piston in the rebound checking movement thereof, said cylinder having the inner surface of its wall tapered in the direction of rebound movement of the piston to afford a gradually increasing resistance to said piston in the rebound movement.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 14th day of June, A.D. nineteen hundied and sixteen. CHARLES D. JENNEY. [1 s.]

Witnesses: p

H. P. DooLI'r'rLE, A. C. RICE. 

